


It's All Good

by kaleidoscoperainwater



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: ADHD, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxiety, Best Friends, Biseuxal Kaito Momota, Bisexual Disaster Saihara Shuichi, Burn Out, Cuddling, Depression, Domestic Fluff, Drama, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Himbo Momota Kaito, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by Music, Inspired by a Cavetown Song, Internalized Homophobia, Kisses, Love Confession, M/M, Making Out, Mutual Pining, No Explicit Smut but it is Implied, Platonic Relationships, Sex Jokes, Sexual Content, Stargazing, Stoner Amami Rantaro, Stress, Suicidal Thoughts, Underage Drinking, nonbinary characters - Freeform, saimota, study dates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29855085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaleidoscoperainwater/pseuds/kaleidoscoperainwater
Summary: College seems to uproot Shuichi Saihara from his daily life, and throw him into a new atmosphere and environment. Everything is changing, almost too quickly for him to keep up. His roommate seems to be a mystery himself, his best friend is all the way across the country, assignments are piling up, and everything is tilting over and collapsing around him. Shuichi isn't sure how to keep loving the world, when he feels like such a tiny star caught up in such a big bang.That is, until one day he meets someone full of laughter.Someone brighter than anything he's ever known.Someone who seems to be their very own galaxy.(INSPIRIED BY THE CAVETOWN SONG "ITS ALL GOOD")
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede/Iruma Miu, Akamatsu Kaede/Saihara Shuichi, Amami Rantaro/K1-B0, Amami Rantaro/Saihara Shuichi, Harukawa Maki/Momota Kaito, Momota Kaito/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	It's All Good

The craziest, and probably the most depressing, thing when leaving for college is realizing you're supposed to be an adult; you're supposed to know what to do. Of course, no one actually knows what to do, that’s what Shuichi’s therapist said to him, but he didn’t find that particularly comforting. The only person who was able to motivate him was his best friend, Kaede. She told him that he should look at life like a sheet of piano music. God, of course she did, she was a music kid, who was in _band_. But, her silly little metaphor, that compared music notes to the ups-and-downs of life, made Shuichi laugh. Even if he didn’t fully believe it, he respected her advice, and had no place to argue about it. 

He simply wished they didn’t have to grow up without each-other, in different colleges, with different lives. They’d known each other since 6th grade, and he couldn’t name a closer friend than her. She was the type of friend that helped him relax. Shuichi wasn’t stiff, or unusually sweaty around her. He would let out his biggest laughs around her, swear, and let loose when they talked. The pair watched bad movies together after finals week, and if Shuichi struggled with a depressive episode Kaede would stop by his house with Burger King milkshakes. They were so close, that some kids at school thought they were romantically involved. They weren’t, though Kaede wasn’t embarrassed to show affection towards Shuichi, so he could understand why it might’ve come off that way. And, at first, he was surprised by her constantly grabbing his hand, hugging him suddenly, or playing with his hair while they studied together. Though, Shuichi soon realized it was just part of her forward nature and took a liking to her platonic fondness, and even gave some to her as well. They never fought, they were connected to the hip, and a part of him got so used to that, he wasn’t expecting it all to change so fast.

She’s gone now, she already packed and moved into her new college campus. The day she left, Shuichi was helping her pack a few more of her belongings, and while grabbing a shoe box in the back of her closet, He opened it, and found photos they had taken throughout the years, some were even from middle school. 

“Wow, I didn’t know you still had these.” Shuichi said, as he titled his head. 

Kaede looked over the blue-haired boy’s shoulder, stuffing one of her many pink jackets into her backpack, “Oh! Wow! I totally forgot about those!” She sat on the ground, crisscrossing her legs and pulling the box closer to her, “Wanna look at them?”

“Oh god, I’m terrified, but incredibly curious.” Shuichi said, smiling, focusing intensely on this moment.

“Good, I’m taking that as a yes.” She picked up a stack of photos, and carefully went through them, leaning forward and showing them to, making comments and remarks here them.

“Oh no, is that Kiibo? I remember that kid. Man, didn’t Kokichi always stick gum in his hair...?” 

Kaede covered her mouth, trying her best to suppress her laughter, “Yes he did, all the time. I think it’s because he had braces and didn’t know where to put it.”

“So, he stuck it in someone’s hair? Hm, sounds very reasonable.” Shuichi stated, smiling at his sarcastic teasing. 

She shook her head, a smile planted on her face, as she flipped to a new photo. “Oh my god, Shuichi, it's 13-year old you.”

The boy looked at the photo and instantly groaned in embarrassment. “Oh my god, why did I do my eyeliner like that.”

“It’s cute.”

“It’s messy. I would rather a kinder-gardener draw on my face.”

“Well, you had to start out somewhere.”

“I suppose.”

They continued to flip through the photos, even finding old polaroid and film within the box. They were covered in dust, and Shuichi occasionally had to brush his fingers over them to properly look at the images. Most of them had dates written on the back of the photos, the old Sharpie ink smudged and fading. Eventually silence fell between the two, maybe because they suddenly realized how much of their lives went by them.

Shuichi looked up, and was shocked to see Kaede crying quietly. “K-kaede!” He stated, in disbelief, instantly scooting close to her, trying not to panic. She wiped her tears, putting the photos aside, and smiled softly. She leaned forward, giving him a tight hug. One that was worth a thousand words. 

“Shuichi, you need to promise me something.”

“I...I do?” He whispered, trying to ground himself.

“Yes, you do.” She leaned back, holding both his hands together, “Promise me, you’ll be okay.”

“That’s-“

She cut him off, as she started to ramble, “Shuichi, I know how worried you are about the future, and I wish I didn’t have to leave your side, but promise me you’ll be okay. Promise me that when you aren’t okay, you’ll call me. And, promise me you’ll try and make some friends.”

“I....I will, of course. But, I don’t think I’ll find anyone quite like you.” He cringed a little at his cheesiness, but he was at least being honest. 

Kaede smiled, tucking a strand of his hair behind his ears, “There's a lot of people out there like me. I can promise you right not Shuichi, college could give you so many opportunities, and friendships, hell even relationships.” 

Shuichi snorted a little, but smiled and nodded. “Okay, I promise, and the same goes for you! Tell me if you need anything at all.” 

Kaede nodded too, letting go of his hands as they continued packing.

And now, here he was. Driving his car, holding back tears, as he recalled that moment from a week ago. It lives in his head, and replays itself constantly. Shuichi gripped the steering wheel, taking a deep shaky breath as he pulled into the campus of his new school.

_I promise._

_I’m gonna be okay._

˚*＊✿❀༓❀✿＊*˚ 

There’s certainly something oddly charming about living in a dorm, or at least, moving into one. It’s certainly cramped, and small, but Shuichi didn’t mind it. He doesn't necessarily take up much room, and some part of him finds it kind of fun. When Shuichi was young, he found things like college and school so exciting. Especially the dorms. So many possibilities, so much room for self-expression, the whole entire iconic college experience! Even while he felt his natural pessimism gnawing at his bones, he let himself welcome his child-like wonder, as he opened his dorm room and locked the door shut. Shuichi sighed, dropping the last boxes on his bed. Shuichi finally had time to explore, look around, and maybe plan out how he was gonna go about decorating and organizing. He turned to the bed beside him, and sighed in relief, his future dorm mate, hadn’t moved in yet, which he was grateful for. He didn’t have his own shower, or bathroom, it was down the hall, and it seemed that his window didn’t work. All part of the college student experience, he supposed. 

Shuichi opened a box, and started unpacking the contents consisting of framed photos, one of him and Kaede and a few other high school friends. A picture of his cat at home, an hourglass, and some fake-books he bought for storage for his stationary. Shuichi piled them onto his desk, organizing them, and finally setting his laptop, which he had retrieved from his backpack, in the middle. It was night, though not considerably late, but somehow he found himself exhausted. It could simply be thanks to being in a new place. Standing in a strange room, that doesn’t quite feel like his yet. Yeah, that is exhausting for sure.

Shuichi grabbed his bathroom supplies and some PJs, and headed out into the hallway, willing himself to try out the showers. Suddenly, he slammed head first into someone and toppled backwards, onto his ass. His entire head went light from the sudden impact and fall, but he managed to keep himself together as he looked up and saw a stranger in front of him. He had his eyebrows raised at Shuichi, and had a natural slouch to his posture, piercings covered his face, and trailed around his naturally sad-shaped eyes. In one hand he had a box, and in another he offered his hand toward the blue-haired boy. Shuichi was incredibly embarrassed, his first interaction with someone in this college, ended up being him ramming into someone’s chest and falling right in front of them. How incredibly cliché, how incredibly ironic. He decided to take the boy’s hand, pulling himself up from the ground, and instantly muttering out an apology. 

The stranger shook his head, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly and rubbing the back of his neck , “Hey, don’t worry about it. Not your fault, I should’ve probably looked where I was going.” He said, his voice deeper than Shuichi would’ve thought.

“Uh, oh okay….If you say so.” He awkwardly agreed, grabbing his belongings off the ground, trying to be as fast as possible in doing so.

The other smiled down at him then glanced at my dorm behind Shuichi, “Is that yours?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at the door.

Shuichi nodded, finally gathering everything in his arms and standing up straight, “Uh, yeah. That’s my dorm, I just fully moved in tonight.” He stated, looking back at the room, then at the pierced boy.

He smiled softly, and reached his hand out for a handshake, “Well, It’s nice meeting my new roommate.” 

Shuichi reached forward, about to accept the handshake, when he suddenly paused, and looked up at him. “You mean, you’re my roommate? This is also your dorm?” 

“Sure is.” He replied, grasping the shorter boy’s hand and giving a light hand shake. Shuichi looked down, noticing the cold touch. The man had countless rings on, with all different kinds of symbols and jewels decorating them. He even was sporting some bracelets around his wrist and had his nails painted. He certainly seemed intriguing.

His roommate pulled his hand away, shoving it back in his pocket. “The names Rantaro Amami. I know this-” He waved at his face, pointing at his piercings, “can be kinda intimidating, but I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”

“I’m sure we will too.” Shuichi agreed, “Oh, and my names Shuichi, um Shuichi Saihara. And, believe it or not, I get the whole piercing thing.” He said, pulling his hair back and showing the small plugs in his ears. 

“Oh! Heh, nice man. I plan on getting plugs very soon too.” Rantaro stated, as he walked past him, unlocking the door of the dorm, and pushing the door open. “I should get settled in. I’ve had a long car ride, and I’m not the biggest fan of road trips, so I’m pretty worn out. It was nice meeting you man.” He warmly stated.

“It was nice meeting you too!” Shuichi said, trying his best to stay at least mildly enthusiastic. Rantaro laughed slightly, closing the door behind him. 

Shuichi rubbed his eyes, yawning and making his way to the public showers. They certainly weren’t anything special, and there seemed to be quite a bit of profane graffiti covering the walls. He didn’t even know “dick diaper” was an insult, until he read one of the notes written in black Sharpie on the mirror. Honestly sounds like something that would be in _Diary Of a Wimpy Kid_ , if it wasn’t, you know, made for children. 

Shuichi entered one of the small showers, stripped, setting his clothes on the stool inside the stall, and quickly showered, trying his best to ignore the terribly cold water and poor water pressure. Again, all part of the college experience. He then turned off the shower, carefully slipping on an old and huge MCR shirt, he had found at _Goodwill_. He made his way back to his dorm, opening the door and piling his stuff on his desk chair. 

Rantaro had earbuds plugged in, as he haphazardly laid his belongings on his desk, some of them catching Shuichi’s eye. They ranged from a small animal skull, to a jar filled of assorted buttons, and last but not least, an intricately crafted bong. 

Rantaro spotted Shuichi staring at the unusual clutter and pulled one of his earbuds out and gestured to the objects, “Curious, huh?”

Shuichi, startled by the other’s sudden statement, suddenly realizing he got caught staring at the peculiar items, flushed. “Uh, yeah.” Besides the bong, he had no idea what the other knick-knacks were for, and he couldn’t even fully see all of them. “What are they...for?” He asked, although tired curiosity did make its way into his voice.

Rantaro smiled, “I travel, and collect little things as memorabilia. Some of them don’t really have purposes besides simple nostalgia and the need for recalling good times.” 

Shuichi nodded, smiling a bit himself. Rantaro seemed extremely laid back, and interesting. Maybe sharing a room with a person like him wouldn’t be so bad. Shuichi turned over to the bed behind him looking delightfully inviting. “Um, I think I’m gonna head to bed.” He said, yawning slightly.  
Rantaro chuckled, “Yeah, same man. Let me just finish putting these clothes away and I’ll turn off the lights.” 

With that, Shuichi fell on to the bed, stuffing his head into the pillow. Once the lights went  
off he could feel his eyelids become heavier and heavier, before he knew it he was soon sound asleep.

˚*＊✿❀༓❀✿＊*˚ 

The next few days were busy and chaotic, filled with grocery shopping, getting materials for class, and fully transitioning into dorm life. It was difficult having a roommate, not that there was anything bad with Rantaro, Shuichi actually found the man very pleasant. Though the blue-haired boy did value and need the occasional privacy, and he soon found out Rantaro was the same way, as he often escaped to his boyfriend’s apartment. 

Shuichi was gathering some textbooks in his arms that he rented for his many classes. They all ranged from forensic science to abnormal psychology. He was almost finished carefully organizing them on his desk, when his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket, startling him suddenly.  
It was Kaede, she was calling. He quickly swiped up on the call, excited to hear from her.

“Hey, Shuichi!” She greeted happily, though muffled. She must be eating something, Shuichi thought.

“Oh! Hi, Kaede!” Shuichi responded, “What’s u-” 

“Tell me _all_ the details about college life for you so far!” Kaede said, immediately cutting him off.

He laughed softly at her enthusiasm, and smiled to himself. Man he missed her bubbly  
energy. 

“Well, I have a roommate. I met him a few days ag-”

“Oh my god, is he hot?” She asked bluntly, a habit Kaede had.

Shuichi flustered, “W-what type of question is that? I’m not checking out everyone I’m running into.” He slipped a sticky note into one of the text books to mark some of the pages he thought he might need for upcoming classes. “Besides, he has a boyfriend.” He said nonchalantly, setting the book into his bag.

“A shame, but what’s he like besides all that?” She asked. Shuichi could almost feel her persistent eyes on him.

“Well he smells like weed, thankfully he doesn’t seem to smoke on campus. Um, and he’s adventurous? I don't know, he's like this grunge hippie that travels a lot. He has a lot of piercings and jewelry, and I’m pretty sure he has one of those old school Volkswagen vans, but he never uses it. He told me cars make him anxious.” 

“That is one interesting character. You better become friends with him, I would love to meet him” Kaede replied. 

Shuichi chuckled lightly, “Noted.” Closing the textbook, he walked over to his bed. “What about you? What’s the college experience for Kaede Akamatsu?” 

“Um, really nice! I have a really cool roommate, a little loud but I’m not against that.” She said cheerfully, “Honestly, she’s pretty strange.”

“Strange? In what way?”

“Well, when I first met her and she was still moving in, I asked her if she needed a hand to help her unpack. And she told me to unpack one of the boxes still on the ground and uh, lemme tell you I didn’t know someone needed so many different types of sex toys.” She said, laughing as she did.

“E-excuse me?” Shuichi said, sitting down on his bed, clearly shaken-up.

“Yeah! I’m not judging though! A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.” She enthusiastically rambled.

“Yeah, but wouldn’t that be incredibly awkward?” Shuichi asked, smiling lightly.

“Shuich, dear, you know I live by the rule that things are only awkward unless you make it awkward.” 

“So, you helped her unpack them…?” He continued to ask, not even sure if he should be surprised.

“Duh, what else was I gonna do? Be impolite?” She said.

Shuichi laughed loudly, Kaede being the few people who could make him do so. He was about to open his mouth, when suddenly he heard the sound of keys outside his door. Amami must be here, he thought to himself. “I have to go, my roommates here.” He said, feeling slightly bad for having to cut the call so short.

“Awh, that’s okay! We’ll call tomorrow after school.” Kaede says.

“Oh god, yeah the first day of college is tomorrow, huh?” Shuichi said, not exactly happy about it.

“Sadly yes, but hey maybe we’ll meet some cool new people.” She offered.

“True. Okay, I have to go. Bye, sleep well!” He said, pulling the phone away from his ear.

“Bye bye!” She said, before Shuichi hung up, turning his head to the door, which Rantaro now had opened.

“Were you on call?” Rantaro asked, nonchalantly as always. He closed the door behind him, pulling off his jacket and dropping it on his desk chair. “I didn’t mean to barge in at the wrong time.”

“It's okay, I'll call her back tomorrow.” Shuichi said, offering a reassuring smile.

“Her? Who were you talking to?”

“Oh, my best friend Kaede. We’ve known each other since middle school.” Shuichi answered, setting his phone down on the nightstand.

“Oh wow, that’s certainly a strong friendship.” Rantaro commented, slipping off the long flowy skirt he was sporting and putting on sweats. Rantaro seemed to be comfortable changing in-front of Shuichi, while on the other hand Shuichi still changed in the bathroom stalls. It was good he was already wearing pajama bottoms, he thought as he got under the covers of his bed. 

“First day of school tomorrow, huh?” Rantaro said, as he slipped off his sweater and pulling a t-shirt over his head. 

“Yeah.” Shuichi half-heartedly replied, the creeping up nerves beginning to truly take place.

“Nervous?”

“How could I not be?” Shuichi said, smiling.

“Well, hey man. I may not look like it but I’m pretty nervous too.” Rantaro said, rubbing the back of his neck, “But, the best we can do is just roll with it. We’ll learn to thrive.”

“I guess I’m just not really sure how this is all gonna pan out.” Shuichi states.

“I don’t either, but that doesn't mean we’re incapable of finding out.”

**Author's Note:**

> omg hi. tysm for reading this fanfic!! i have so many ideas and plans for this story so look forward to that!!
> 
> i don't have a solid posting schedule yet, but i do plan on making one!! until then, i'll do my best to pump out chapters as fast as i can. if you have any questions feel free to ask me in the comments or contact me with the information down below :))!!
> 
> CONTACT/SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION ↴  
> instagram: @meinthesolvingamystery  
> tiktok: @kaleidoscope.rainwater  
> discord: @tracy reznik in the flesh#2192  
> twitter: @MadelynScottish
> 
> here's a link to my shuichi saihara playlist if you're interested:  PLEASE GO SUPPORT CAVETOWN AND THE SONG THIS FANFIC IS BASED ON ↴  bye for now see you in the next chapter (｡•́-ก̀｡)


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